Picture mask

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a picture mask to cover a framed picture, to give it a look like a wrapped gift, said picture mask having a face, four adjacent sides, and hollow space at a back side; and wherein the framed picture fits on hollow space of the picture mask. The picture mask simply rests on the framed picture under gravitational forces. The picture mask may also include the pre-decorated materials on the face of it to provide an attractive look. The picture mask can be of either square shape or rectangular shape. The user can get ready-to-use picture mask as per their requirements of appropriate sizes and shapes of the framed picture. The picture mask to cover the framed picture can be used on several holidays and occasions, such as Christmas, Valentine&#39;s day, birthdays, anniversaries, new baby born, father&#39;s day, mother&#39;s day, Thanks giving, to name just a few.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

MICROFICHE

Not applicable

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to the field of a picture mask. The invention, particularly relates to a picture mask to cover a framed picture, to give it a look like a wrapped gift. The picture mask to cover the framed picture can be used on several holidays and occasions, such as Christmas, Valentine's day, Birthdays, Anniversaries, Baby born, Father's day, Mother's day, Thanks giving, New year, to name just a few.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

“A picture is worth a thousand words” is an English idiom. It refers to the notion that a complex idea can be conveyed with just a single still image or that an image of a subject conveys its meaning or essence more effectively than a description does. Picture or photo frames are used for displaying photo, artistic, or memorable items. A picture giving either to your loved ones or to friends on various occasions as a gift is very special to convey love, wishes, thanks, polite expressions, and assurance of friendship. Further, presentation of the gifts by wrapping a picture with decorated material is also an important aspect of the gifting. Gift wrapping entails purchasing a roll of suitable decorative paper, cutting off a piece suitable in size for the carton at hand to be wrapped, attempting to center the carton on the paper and hold it centered while folding the paper about the carton and securing the same. This operation takes a substantial amount of personal time. Furthermore, additional expense is incurred due to the inevitable waste of gift wrapping material resulting from inadvertent incorrect measurement of the paper, accidental tearing of the gift wrapping material and the generation of unusable pieces of gift wrapping material. So in all this operation of wrapping a gift is expensive, inconvenient, and time-consuming.

A number of different varieties of materials and ideas for gift wrapping a picture are available in the prior art. Prior art document, U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,822 discloses a box, formed from a single rectangular blank of a suitable material, suitable for packaging gift items, having a unique construction wherein score lines and perforated score lines are used to form an end closure section permitting the box to be rapidly and easily assembled. Another prior art document, U.S. Pat. No. 6,472,038 discloses an exchangeable decorative frame cover for decoration. The exchangeable decorative frame cover includes a frame cover made of flexible material with a shape adaptable to a solid frame, and a means for securing the frame cover on to the solid frame, and releasing the frame cover from the solid frame. The exchangeable decorative frame cover can be made of fabric, leather, fur and plastics. Another prior art document U.S. Pat. No. 7,036,257 discloses a decorative holiday picture frame cover comprising a music player, a bow, a stretchable material, a sensor such as motion sensor/sound sensor, and a backlighting bulb. Yet another prior art document, US patent application no. 2010/0180483 discloses an adhesive frame for a photograph or picture, the frame comprising: a layer of felt; a coating of a permanent adhesive on one side of the layer of felt; a coating of a removable adhesive on the other side of the layer of felt for removably adhering the adhesive frame to a wall; and a frame attached to the felt by the permanent adhesive creating inner and outer borders of the adhesive frame. Yet another prior art document, U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,943 discloses a quickly applied preformed gift wrap to a carton, the wrap having pre-scribed fold lines sequentially numbered for folding about a carton and shielded adhesive strips to secure overlapping edges of the folded portions.

However, above mentioned references and many other similar references have one or more of the following shortcomings: (a) expensive; (b) preformed gift boxes were either too complicated, involving a multitude of flaps, tabs, and slits, therefore being difficult to assemble; (c) aesthetically unpleasant; (d) use of adhesives; (e) attachment of other elements like sensors, bulbs; (f) time consuming while wrapping the picture; (g) even time consuming when the receiver opens up a gift; (h) one time use of gift wrapping materials—wastage of materials; and (i) only covering a picture frame.

The present application addresses the above mentioned concerns and short comings with regard to providing a simple and easy to use a picture mask, for use in combination with a picture, to give it a look like a wrapped gift.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of accessories of wrapping a picture now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a picture mask. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved accessory for crayons which has all the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.

An object of the present invention is to provide a picture mask to cover a framed picture, to give it a look like a wrapped gift, said picture mask having a face, four adjacent sides, and a hollow space at the back side; and wherein the framed picture fits on the hollow space of the picture mask.

It is an another object of the present invention to provide the picture mask to cover a framed picture, to give it a look like a wrapped gift, wherein the face comprises pre-decorated materials pasted on it.

It is an another object of the present invention to provide the picture mask to cover a framed picture, to give it a look like a wrapped gift, wherein the picture mask is made up of a light weight material.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide the picture mask to cover a framed picture, to give it a look like a wrapped gift, wherein the light weight material is selected from hard paper, cardboard, corrugated paper sheet, corrugated plastic sheet and similar type of light weight material.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide the picture mask to cover a framed picture, to give it a look like a wrapped gift, wherein the shape of the picture mask is either square or rectangular.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide the picture mask to cover a framed picture, to give it a look like a wrapped gift, further includes snap-out tabs which are arranged at the back side of the picture mask to accommodate the pictures of different sizes.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide the picture mask to cover a framed picture, to give it a look like a wrapped gift, further includes tabs which are attached at the back side to the four adjacent sides to hold the picture of the specific size.

In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts one of the embodiments of this invention, a perspective view of the wrapped gift including a picture mask and a framed picture.

FIG. 2 shows schematic view illustrating back side up of the picture mask similar to FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows schematic view illustrating back side up of the picture mask when snap-out tabs are arranged on the back side to accommodate the pictures of the different sizes.

FIG. 4 shows schematic view illustrating back side up of the picture mask when tabs are attached to the four adjacent sides to hold the picture of the specific size.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that the embodiments may be combined, or that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural and logical changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

In our modern society, to gift pictures on holidays or on special occasions is a culture. Holidays may be Christmas, Thanksgiving, Diwali, New year, etc and special occasions may be birthdays, anniversaries, father's day, mother's day, new born baby day, etc. Wrapping a gift in an attractive way for presenting gifts to the dear ones is also very important. However, there are some problems also which involve hassles of wrapping a gift in a perfect way, good amount of time has to spend to shop for a wrapping material, receiver has also to spend some time to take down the picture, wastage of the wrapping material, risk of damaging of the picture when in storage. To overcome above mentioned drawbacks and several others, the present invention provides a picture mask to cover a framed picture to give it a look like a wrapped gift, which is simple, convenient, light weight gift material, inexpensive, less time consuming and above all which can also be placed back for storing the framed picture.

FIG. 1 depicts one of the embodiments of this invention, a perspective view of the wrapped gift including a picture mask and a framed picture. Further, FIG. 2 depicts schematic view illustrating back side up of the picture mask. A picture mask 102 to cover a framed picture 103, to give it a look like a wrapped gift 101 is illustrated in the FIG. 1. The picture mask 102 having a face 105, four adjacent sides 202 a, 202 b, 202 c, and 202 d, and a hollow space 201 at a back side; and wherein the framed picture 103 fits on the hollow space 201 of the picture mask 102. The customer can get ready-to-use picture mask 102 as per their requirements of appropriate sizes and shapes of the framed picture 103. Further, the picture mask 102 may also include the pre-decorated material 104 pasted on the face 105 of the picture mask. The picture mask 102 can be of either square or rectangular shape and is of any of the standard picture sizes. The material of the picture mask 102 is a light weight material. The light weight material may be selected from hard paper, cardboard, corrugated paper sheet, corrugated plastic sheet and similar type of lightweight materials. The picture mask 102 simply rests on the framed picture 103 under gravitational forces and also provides appearance like the wrapped gift 101. The picture mask of the present invention is very simple to use, time saving, attractive with the pre-decorated material, light weight and easy to handle. Additionally, the gift receiver is also saving time without requiring time to track down the wrapping materials and these may be re-used for storing the framed picture.

FIG. 3 depicts another embodiment of the present invention, when the picture mask is used to accommodate the pictures of different sizes. FIG. 3 shows schematic view illustrating back side up of the picture mask when snap-out tabs are arranged on the back side to accommodate the pictures of the different sizes. For the simplicity to display another embodiment, the back side up view of the picture mask is only represented. The picture mask 301 having a hollow face 302, four adjacent sides, 303 a, 303 b, 303 c, and 303 d, and four snap-out tabs 304 a, 304 b, 304 c, and 304 d. The snap-out tabs, 304 a, 304 b, 304 c, and 304 d, are slidable and attached to the back side of the picture mask 302 to accommodate the pictures of the different sizes. For example the framed pictures having different sizes like 3*4, 4*4, 5*4, for all these framed picture one type of the picture mask 301 can be used. No need to use several types of the picture masks. The picture mask of the present invention of this embodiment has also advantages as described in the above first embodiment.

FIG. 4 depicts yet another embodiment of the present invention, when the picture mask is used to accommodate the picture of the specific size. FIG. 4 shows schematic view illustrating back side up of the picture mask when tabs are attached to the four adjacent sides to hold the picture of the specific size. For the simplicity to display yet another embodiment, the back side up view of the picture mask is only represented. The picture mask 402 having a hollow face 401, four adjacent sides, 403 a, 403 b, 403 c, and 403 d, and four tabs 404 a, 404 b, 404 c, and 404 d. The tabs, 404 a, 404 b, 404 c, and 404 d, are sufficiently long and are attached to the four adjacent sides, 403 a, 403 b, 404 c, and 404 d, respectively. The picture mask of the present invention of this embodiment has also advantages as described in the above first embodiment.

One skilled in the art will understand the use of tabs or fasteners of any type are not needed for the operation of the present invention, and that the mere gravity effect on the top portion of the picture mask that hangs on the top portion of a picture will work to hold the picture mask in place.

It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. For example, the above-discussed embodiments may be used in combination with each other. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description.

While the present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it should be understood that the embodiments are illustrative and that the scope of the invention is not limited to these embodiments. Many variations, modifications, additions and improvements to the embodiments described above are possible. It is contemplated that these variations, modifications, additions and improvements fall within the scope of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A picture mask to cover a framed picture, to hide the underlying picture, comprising: a face, four adjacent sides, and a hollow space at a backside; and wherein the framed picture fits into the hollow space of the picture mask to completely hide the picture and frame thereof.
 2. The picture mask to cover a framed picture according to claim 1, wherein the face comprises pre-decorated materials pasted on it.
 3. The picture mask to cover a framed picture according to claim 1, wherein the picture mask is made up of a lightweight material.
 4. The picture mask to cover a framed picture according to claim 1, wherein the lightweight material is selected from: hard paper, cardboard, corrugated paper sheet, corrugated plastic sheet and similar type of light weight material.
 5. The picture mask to cover a framed picture according to claim 1, wherein the shape of the picture mask is either square or rectangular.
 6. The picture mask to cover a framed picture according to claim 1, further includes snap-out tabs which are arranged at the backside of the picture mask to accommodate the pictures of different sizes.
 7. The picture mask to cover a framed picture according to claim 1, further include tabs which are attached to the four adjacent sides to hold the picture of the specific size. 